Improvement in steam canal-boats



w. BAXTER w. BAXTER, 1|.y

'.Steam 4Ganan-Boats.

,Patented sept. 15, um.

No.154g978.

EMM mi @n UNITEDV STATES PATENT OFFICEc WILLIAM BAXTERAND WILLIAMBAXTER, JR., OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM CANAL-BOATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,978, dated September 15, 1874; application tiled August 25, 1874.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM BAXTER and WILLIAM BAxTEmJr., both of the city of Newark, in Vt-he county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented an 'Improvement in Canal-Boats to be Propelled by Steam- Power, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompany- A ing drawings forming part thereof.

The object of oui` invention is the successful application of steam-power to the propulsion of boats on canals.

It is well known that such application of steam-power has been long regarded as very desirable,\and itis equally well known that of the many attempts that have been made to accomplish it none have been so far successful as to effect the supersedure of horse-power for the purpose. The reasons of, these repeated failures are to be found in the peculiar conditions and exigencies of canal navigation. These conditions and exigencies differ widely and essentially from those existing in navigation upon the broad waters of the ocean, or of our lakes and rivers. The canalboat must be adapted to run y within the nar- ,capacity can be occupied by the motor, ma-

chinery, and fuel, as, if the prescribed limits in these respects are transcended, the cost of transportation by steam-power will exceed that by horse-power, and the former will prove economically a failure-a result as fatal as would be a mechanical failure 5 and the motor machinery, the fuel, and the freight must be so disposed and placed, relatively, that the boat shall be at all times perfectly trimmed, in order to use the utmost possible depth of the water WithoutA liability to touch ground. That the combining in a canal steamboat all the features necessary to meet these various conditions is a'difficult achievement is proved by the fact that it has never been accomplished before.

We will now proceed to describe our canalboat, in which are embodied the improvements whereby the results above referred to are secured; and it should be remarked that wherever Awe have departed `from the form, construction, or arrangement commonly found in canal-boats, we have done so for a definite purpose, and to accomplish a predetermined result, as will be apparent from the description herein of our improvement.

These improvements relate, first, to the hull of the boat, and, in such relation, consist in combining a flat, plane bottom with sides the vertical section of which, in all their entire external surface, including bow and stern, presents vertical lines, at least below the water-line, or lines as nearly vertical as are the Wallsv of the locks of the canal in which the boat is designed to run, thereby securingthe greatest possible carrying 'capacity for the draft of the boat, the water, by the movement of the boat, being set in motion laterally only, leaving the water under the boat at rest, thereby obviating the stirring up of the bed of the canal, and obviating also the lifting of the bow, and consequent depression of the stern, when under way, which takes place with boats whose bottoms curve or incline upward at or near the bow also, in giving to the bow such a form that its horizontal section at any point below the water-line presents a true Gothic arch-that is to say, the line on each side of the bow is the* arc of a circle whose radius is at least equal to the breadth of the boat at the intersection of the bow with the sides, thereby securing the most advantageous adj ustmentpossible of the maximum of carrying capacity to the minimum of resistance to the passage of the boat through the Water; also, in giving to the stern, below the water-line, a form similar to the bow above indicated, with upper and lower guards the protection of tl e propeller, formed by an overhanging portion of the hull around the stern above the water-line, and a lower guardiforfthe same purpose extending in the plane of the boats bottom underneath and beyond the propeller around the stern, the space may be conveniently and safelylocateda steam-V condenser for the motor steam-engine 5 also, in

an opening from the engine-room immediatelyv over the propeller, within the upper overhanging portion of the stern above, near the water-line, whereby ready access can be had at all times through said opening to the pro-- in particularly described of the hull of the boat, constructed as aforesaid, with a propeller having a pitch so proportioned relatively to its diameter that its rotation at a rate of motion requisite to avoid slip, and obtain the maximum of propulsion with the minimum expenditure of power, will impart to the lboat only a certain predetermined speed permit-ted on the canal for whichthe boat is designed.

A indicates the hull of the boat. Its length, breadth, and depth are proportioned to the canal in which it is designed to run, having reference to the depth of water, the width of the canal, and the size of the locks through which the boat must pass, the design being to make the said hull as large as the canal and its locks will allow. The bottom of the hull is the full length and breadth of the body of the hull, and is entirely flat, all parts of its under surface being throughout in the same plane. This form secures two objects: First, it gives to the boat the greatest possible carryin g capacity in proportion to its draft 5 and, second, it contributes to the preventing of the lifting or riding up of' the bow, and consequent sinking of the stern, when the boat is under headway. This last object is very important. It is essential to the highest success, in canal navigation, to make use of the greatest possible depth of the water; in other words, to sink the boat by its load to as near the bottom as may be without danger of running aground. With this dat bottom the b oat will move through the water on a much more level keel than it would with a bottom curved upward at the bow, the latter form having a tendency to ride upward on the water, and thereby depress the stern. Boats with a flat bottom, and otherwise constructed and propelled like ours, here described, may be safely sunk within a few inches of the bed of the canal without danger of touching bottom, even when running at any permissible rate of speed.`

-From this flat bottom the sides rise vertically, or nearly so, throughout their entire extent, vincluding theA bow and stern, at least below the water-line, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The bowB' is so curved lthat its lhorizontal section at any point presents the lines of a true Gothic arch, `each side of the bow constituting the are of a circle drawn from a point, as its center, located outside of the opposite side of the boat, on a line vdrawn through the two points of intersection of the bow with the sides of the hull. Y

We have found by experiment that this form of the bow, in conjunction with the dat bottom and vertical sides above described,

offers the least possible resistance to the passage of the boat through the water in proportion to the water displaced and the carrying capacity of the bow.

The stern below the water-line has the same Gothic form as the bow. Above the waterline the sides project and overhang all around the Gothic-arch portion. This overhanging portion I of the hull forms a guard over'the propeller H, by which said propeller is protected from contact with the sides of the canal and the walls of the locks. J is a lower sternguard, (formed preferably of wood plank or deal, arranged with its inner edge against the side of the hull, instead of being bolted into its bottom, being thereby stronger and in a better position to 'endure the strain of contact with the banks of the canal,) whichprojects around the stern, in or near the plane of the bottom of the hull. This serves three purposes: First, to protect the propeller against injury from contact with the banks of the canal, and bottom or sides of the locks; second, to prevent the water displaced by the action of the `propeller from being drawn from 4underneath the bottom of the stern, and thereby causing the stern to settle down below the level of the bow;l and, third, to support and protect the condenser. By this construction of the stern a channel is formed along the run between the two guards, through which the water, as it is displaced by the propeller at the rear, flows laterally into it atthe front, smoothly and quietly, without agitation, and without displacement of water from underneath the bottom of the stern. C is the-engine-room in the stern of the boat, and D the coal-bunker, located in front of the engineroom, as far from the end of the boat as may be without inconveniencing the reman in transferrin g the coal from the bunker to the enginefurnace. EE are cargo-spaces on either side of theengine-room,between thelatterandthehull. This arrangement relatively with each other of the engine-room, the coal-bunker, vand the rear-side cargo-spaces, effects a more perfect trimming of the boat, as the farther from the stern and the nearer the midships the coalbunker is located, the less does the reduction of the coal in the bunker cause'the rising of the stern. His the propeller, which has a peculiar form specially adapted to the propulsion of a boat of a comparatively large ton- .nage at a comparatively low speed in the waters of a canal. This peculiar adaptation is effected by giving to propeller, whose diameter -isvl about equal to the draft of the boat, a pitch about equal to. or less'than itsy diameter, locating `it about midway between the water line' andthe bottom of the hull, and driving it at that rate of speedv that shall secure the maximumeffective action against the water, `thus propelling 'the `boat at the required low speed with a minimum expenditure-of power.

The propeller-bladesshould,`on their outer or working faces, be a plane bent into the for-m of a true screw. On their opposite faces they should be beveled so as to present sharp edges to the water,and should be rounded at their extremities to facilitate movement in the water, and obviate entanglement with ropes and other objects in the water.-

The motion of the engine is regulatedpto give just that motion to the propeller, having reference to its pitch, that will propel the boat at the desired rate of speed. The propeller is placed midway between the upper and lower guards, before described, so as to be completely protected by them.

Within the protection of the lower guard J, and along the angle formed by its connection with `the hull, is located the steam-condenser, consisting of a metal tube, N, which runs from the exhaust-port of the'engine, through the side of the hull, around the stern, within the channel M, between the guards I J, and enters the hull again through the opposite side to the hot-well. The condenser, thus located, is entirely protected from injury, while it is subjected to the cooling' action of the current of water, which, when the boat is under way, is moving through the channel M.

Immediately over the propeller, in the upper overhanging portion I of the hull, there is an opening, R, from the engine-room, covered by a door or removable trap, R', through which ready access may be had at all times to the propeller, the shaft of which is within the reach of the hand of the operator, to clear it of any obstructing substances that may be taken up by its blades. v

In order to produce the results hereinbefore indicated-namely, the transportation, by steam power, of freight upon canals at a greater rate of speed and at less cost than has hitherto been possible by horse-power without injury to the canalit is essential that certain forms and relative proportions of the various parts of the boat used, and its accessories, and certain relative rates of motion in the several parts of the motor mechanism, be established andV maintained. We will now proceed to describe and define them more particularly, assuming as a model a boat designed to be navigated upon the New York Erie Canal,

wherethe trial of our invention has been made. From the following description of the dimensions, proportions, and mechanism of this boat, the rule for the construction and arrangement of boats of all sizes and tonnage, embodyingour improvement, may be readily deduced:

The boat is ninety-six feet length of keel and Vs'eventeenand'one-half feet'breadth of beam.

The bottom being flat and the sides substantially vertical, it is of uniform length land breadth throughout its entire depth below the water-line, and the same above the water-line, excepting the overhanging portions described, which project about two feet. It has six `feet draft of water when loaded, and has four feet depth above the Water-line. This boat has a carrying capacity of two hundred and -twenty tons, besides lthemachinery and fuel. The length of thebow is twenty feet, measured on a line drawn from the stern lthrough the center of the boat to a line drawn at right angles therewith through the points of intersection of the curved 4sides of the bow with the straight sides of the hull. This boat is as large as can be run in the Erie Canal. The form and dimensions of the stern below the water-line are similar to those of the bow. The engine-room, located in the middle of the stern, is sixteen feet in length by nine feet in breadth, leaving a freight-space of three and a half feet in breadth on each side. The coalbunker, located immediately in front of the engine-room, is of sufcient capacity to con tain about six tons of coal, say seven feet by four feet, fore and aft. This division of the space in the stern is recommended, though not essential. The diameter of the propeller is live feet nine inches, and it has a pitch of five feet.l The blades are nine inches in Width at the hub and two feet at the outer ends or widest part. The propeller is attached immediately to the crank-shaft of the engine, (which is reciprocating.) and thus makes a revolution with each stroke of lthe piston. When the boat is loaded and the desired rate of speed for the boat is four miles per hour vthe propeller makes about one hundred revolutions per minute. To give this speed under the conditions named requires the consumption of only about eighty pounds' of anthracite coal per hour, and the entire cost of transportation of freight upon such a boat upon the Erie Canal has been demonstrated to be not more than one-fourth of one cent per ton per mile, which is much less than is possible by horse-power.

We have described the proportions, forms, and arrangements of the several parts of our canal steamboat which we have found to produce the best results, but it is evident there may be slight variations of them without departing from the spirit of our invention. We do not intend to claim herein either a boat containing the opening or passage It over the propeller, through which convenient access is hadto the propeller, or the' division and arrangement of the interior of the hull at the stern into the engine-room C, coal-bunker D,

and cargo-spaces, which we reserve for separate and independent application for Letters Patent therefor, which it is our purpose to make.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The bow B, presenting anV external vertical, or nearly vertical, profile in all parts throughout its depths below the waterline, and of the form of a Gothic arch in its horizontal section, the proportion being substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, in the hull of a canalboat, of a at bottom and vertical sides and stern, the stern below the water-line having a Gothic-arch shape, and being provided' with the guards I and J, as and for the purposes specified.

3. In acanal-boat, constructed substantially as described, the lower stern-guard J, arranged in relation with the propeller, operating as a guard therefor, preventing the draft of water from beneath the boat, and af- 

